Where Peter Needs to Find the Perfect Gift
by Bayliwick
Summary: What exactly do you buy the man who owns a tower, a private plane, and several iron man suits? Peter struggles to answer that question. Marvel AU where they're all alive and happy.


**A/N: ****Merry Christmas! Enjoy the fluff!**

**There may be typos since I wrote this up quickly to get it out today, but oh well :)**

* * *

What were you supposed to buy the man who owned his own tower? That was Peter's thought as he meandered aimlessly through the aisles of the department store, clutching the crumpled twenty in his fist. Ned rambled on beside him, offering different suggestions.

"Oh! What about this hair mousse?" His best friend picked up an expensive-looking bottle with a French label. Peter wrinkled his nose, "No way, dude. That would be weird."

"Okay," Ned shrugged before continuing down the aisle. Most of the shelves were empty from the holiday craze customers found themselves in as Christmas approached. Although Peter had a few more days to find the perfect Secret Santa gift, he felt his anxiety build as time passed.

Because really, what were you supposed to buy the man who owned like twenty cars? And a private plane? And several iron suits? I Heaving a sigh, the teenager ran his hand through his hair for the millionth time that day. Twenty dollars was not enough money…

"What about this?" Ned shoved a box into his best friend's face.

"A Lego Avengers set?"

"Yeah! It has a Tony Stark mini-figure! And mini Iron Man suits!" Ned sprouted off the information on the box excitedly, "Who's going to love Tony Stark more than Tony Stark?"

"It feels kind of weird though," Peter tussled with his curls again. "It's just that I _need_ this gift to be perfect. Mr. Stark's done so much for me."

Ned looked bummed out for a moment as they both turned to look around once more. After searching fruitlessly for another hour, Peter headed towards the exit with a dejected look on his face while Ned followed along to buy the Lego set he'd found earlier.

* * *

"Peter, dinner!" Aunt May called.

"Coming!" He dashed down the hallway quickly, using his nimble reflexes to vault himself into the kitchen chair with a grin just as she set the plate down in front of him.

"Seventeen seconds," his aunt commented with amusement. "You're getting faster, but you forgot a drink."

"Aw, dam—," he began to curse, but quickly backtracked at May's stern glare, " – darn it." Getting up to fetch some soda, he sat back down to taste the pasta his aunt managed to not burn tonight.

"Where have you been learning language like that?" May asked as she took a bite. "Is it Hawkeye? He seems like the type to teach you stuff like that."

"Um," Peter stuffed his mouth to avoid throwing his teammates under the bus. In reality, they all cursed with some frequency besides Cap, but he didn't want his aunt knowing that. May snickered after a minute, "Relax honey, I'm not mad at them. I just want you to avoid using language like that."

She sent him a grin, "The only time you're allowed to use foul language is if you're fighting a really bad guy, we clear?"

"We're clear," Peter promised, although he could sense the worry in his aunt's tone. Ever since she found out about his superhero persona she'd made jokes about it, but it always carried a more serious undertone.

Changing the topic, he said, "I still need to find a present for Mr. Stark."

"For your Avengers Secret Santa?"

He nodded, "I can't seem to find the perfect gift."

May looked contemplative for a moment, "Well, what do you imagine as the 'perfect gift?'" She added air quotes around her words for dramatic effect.

Playing with some of the food on his plate, he shrugged. "I just want to get him something that shows how much I appreciate everything he's done for me that's all. Plus it's hard to buy something for a billionaire."

"Well you could always make something," May said. "Put that genius brain of yours to good use, honey."

As her words registered, an idea shot through Peter's head. "Oh that's perfect!" He jumped out of his chair, racing to grab a piece of paper to jot it down.

"Peter?" May called from the table, "Finish your dinner at least before you pull another all-nighter."

"Oh right, sure Aunt May." The teenager replied sheepishly as he sat back down again. His aunt just gave him a bemused smile as they continued eating.

* * *

"How can I help you, Pete?" Bruce's kind eyes followed the teenager as he entered the lab designated as "Science Bros Only". Peter looked around cautiously to make sure Mr. Stark wasn't here before speaking.

"I need your help in making a present for Mr. Stark."

Raising his eyebrows, Bruce asked, "Are you his Secret Santa?" Peter nodded.

"Alright, what were you thinking of making?" Gesturing to the lab, Bruce smiled widely. "As long as you don't blow anything up or make the Hulk come out, you have free rein."

"Sweet! Thanks, Bruce!" Peter got to work on his idea. Over the next few hours, he tinkered with different tools and consulted with Bruce, but when his design came to life, it didn't feel _right_. Bruce, on the other hand, loved it.

"This is brilliant!" The scientist laughed in amazement, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "I can't believe it only took you three hours to develop a better gauntlet than Tony's original design for the iron suit! He'll love this, Pete!"

"Thanks," the teenager muttered as he retouched the exterior of the new gauntlet.

"What's wrong, Pete? I'm sure Tony will love this." Bruce looked over at the kid, "You've clearly put a lot of thought into this. It's better than the gift I got Maria… I just hope she doesn't think the gift card to a spa is weird or anything. Nat suggested the idea when I didn't know what to get, but honestly, I can never tell if she's joking or serious. Damn spy…" Peter's teammate began to ramble more to himself while Peter tried to figure out why the gauntlet as a gift didn't sit right with him.

The only conclusion he could come up with was that it just didn't feel _right_. Sure it showed Tony the extent of his apprentice's intellectual prowess, but it didn't show how much Peter cared about his mentor. It still didn't have the personal touch Peter was going for. Dejected and with only a day left until the exchange, Peter left a fretful Bruce in his wake.

* * *

"Peter! It is good to see you!" Shuri shouted as she tackled him in a hug. His Wakandan friend laughed as he squeezed her back tightly. T'Challa flashed him a grin as the king stepped forward to shake Peter's hand.

"As always, Peter, it is a pleasure." Peter matched the king's grin while ducking his head awkwardly. Despite Shuri and T'Challa's attempts, the teenager still wasn't sure if it was a hundred percent okay to be so casual around royalty; like one day they might actually throw him in a Wakandan jail-cell like he'd read about other king's in history do to their subjects for worse offenses.

"T'Challa! Shuri!" Steve came into the room to greet their guests, followed by the rest of the team. "You got here early!"

"We were excited to get our gifts," The princess teased. "It is the only reason my brother could pull me away from my lab."

Natasha smirked, "Well, we have a pretty nice lab here too. I'm sure Tony will let you borrow it." She winked at a beaming Shuri.

"Hey, I agreed to no such thing!" Tony protested while Nat pulled Shuri towards the elevator. Nat challenged, "Try and keep a super genius and master spy out of your lab!"

The room erupted in laughter as Tony gawked at the closing door, already shouting at FRIDAY to deny them access. "I'm sorry, Boss, but Agent Romanoff has ceased my control over that level. I require a full restart to gain access again, which I estimate will take twelve hours."

"Aw dammit," Tony cursed. "Who knows what they'll mess up in that amount of time." The billionaire turned to T'Challa, "Isn't there anything you can do?"

Shaking his head, "I am afraid not. Miss Romanoff is my sister's Secret Santa and her gift was unlimited access to the Stark lab for half a day. I wouldn't interfere with the gift exchange even if I wanted to." T'Challa's expression resembled the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland at Tony's visible frustration.

Clint and Bucky were sniggering in the corner, whispering amongst themselves that Peter only heard because of his enhanced hearing. "I'd love a picture of Stark's face right now as my Secret Santa gift."

The archer's words sparked something in Peter's mind and a whole new idea came to life. Rushing past everyone, he ignored Steve and Bruce's concerned gazes as he ran out towards the stairwell.

* * *

His leg bounced restlessly on the ground as the exchange was about to start from nerves. Natasha, who was spread out on the couch next to him, held his leg in place with a not-so-stern glare. "Calm down, Tony will like your gift."

Eyes widening, he asked, "How did you know? I didn't tell anyone but Bruce…"

Arching an eyebrow, Nat just gave him a look. "I'm a spy, _shchenok_. You think I wouldn't find out who had who right away?"

"Who has you?"

"Mhm," the redhead leaned back into the couch, "I think I'll keep that a secret for their sake. The point of this conversation is that there's no need to be nervous, Tony will love your present because it's _from_ _you_."

"You think so?"

"I know so," her lips curled upwards. "Master spy, remember?"

"Yeah," he mumbled as he looked down at the small rectangle he'd wrapped in _Happy Birthday_ paper. They'd run out of holiday wrapping paper at the store and this was all May had stashed in their apartment. Running a hand through his hair, he tugged at the thick strands nervously; he _really_ hoped Nat was right.

"Alright guys," Steve said. "We can exchange our presents now."

The Avengers started to find their person and Peter walked over to where Tony was giving Thor a suspiciously hammer-shaped package. As the God of Thunder unwrapped a perfect replica of Mjolnir, the billionaire ripped it out of his hands. "Hey, look at that! I _am_ worthy!"

Thor rolled his eyes at "the man of Stark's insolent actions", but gave Peter a warm smile as he passed. Tony was still tossing around the fake Mjolnir as his apprentice approached. "Hey, kid! What's up?"

As Peter wordlessly handed the gift over, Tony smirked at the wrapping paper, "Oh, you got this for little ol' me? Way to remind a guy he's getting old, kid." The smirk faded into a genuine shock as Tony peeled away the paper to reveal a picture of him and Peter.

They were holding the fake certificate for Peter's "internship" and giving each other bunny ears for the camera. Remembering that day as the one Peter first turned down the spot to be an Avenger, it was one of the few pictures the two of them had together.

"I got you a copy and myself a copy, Mr. Stark," Peter said, his (only slightly) sweating hands clasped together. "I just really liked that picture of us and it was kind of the beginning of us working together and I –" He didn't get to finish as Tony pulled him into a tight hug.

Peter swore he felt a tear fall on his shoulder as Tony sniffed in his ear. "It's perfect, kid. Thank you." A grin spread across the teenager's face as they pulled away. "But don't tell anyone this made me cry or else I'll deny ever knowing you."

"Deal."

* * *

Later that day, Peter dropped off his "internship paperwork" in Mr. Stark's office, only to catch a glimpse of the newest picture frame sitting proudly on display.

* * *

**A/N: The picture he gave Tony is the one from Endgame, I know it's a sad moment in the movie but it was so cute to not use for this piece.**


End file.
